The yellow card incident that has seen referee David Coote landed in further hot water has resurfaced once more, over five years after it first happened.
Referee Coote is under investigation by the Football Association following allegations that he discussed showing a yellow card to a player prior to officiating in a game.
The game in question saw Leeds take on West Brom in the Championship back in October 2019, with a booking shown to then-defender Ezgjan Alioski in the 18th minute.
The North Macedonian international flew into a challenge on Darnell Furlong, sliding on the floor at pace out of control and catching the Baggies right back to rightly earn himself a caution.
However, a report from The Sun suggests that Coote allegedly messaged a ‘pal’ to hint that Leeds player Alioski would be booked during the clash at Elland Road.
It is also claimed in the report that Coote messaged his friend again the day after the game to say: ‘What a day yesterday. I hope you backed as discussed.’
An FA spokesman last night confirmed they are investigating the matter.
‘These are very serious allegations and we are investigating as a matter of urgency,’ read a statement.
The report from the Sun indicates that Coote has denied any wrongdoing, and is not thought to have benefited financially as a result of the caution.
It comes amid a storm at which Coote is the centre, following the emergence of a clip which appeared to show him calling Liverpool ‘s***’ and describing Jurgen Klopp a ‘German ****’.
This was then followed by a video that appeared to show a man alleged to be the official sniffing a white powder during the European Championship where he was a referee earlier this year.
PGMOL (the body responsible for refereeing games in England) say they are taking claims against the 42-year-old ‘very seriously
A PGMOL spokesperson said: ‘We are following an internal process and taking the allegations into David Coote’s conduct very seriously as part of our ongoing full and thorough investigation. Whilst David remains suspended, his welfare continues to be important to us and he is aware of the support network available to him.’
Coote was stood down from Premier League duties and also from international and European competition by UEFA, which is also investigating
.
An astonishing leaked video that went viral last week appeared to show Premier League official Coote calling Liverpool ‘s***’ and Jurgen Klopp a ‘German ****’
‘The UEFA Referees Committee immediately suspended David Coote until further notice on November 11 when it became aware of his inappropriate behaviour,’ a spokesperson said.
In the first clip, the Nottinghamshire official claimed Klopp was ‘arrogant’. ‘Aside from having a right pop at me when I reffed them against Burnley in lockdown, then he (Klopp) accused me of lying and had a right f****** pop at me,’ said Coote.
‘I’ve got no interest in speaking to someone who’s f****** arrogant. I do my best not to speak to him. ‘My God, German ****, f*** me.’
He also added: ‘Liverpool were s***. (Klopp is a) ****, absolute ****.
‘(James) Milner is all right, I get on with him. You can see me there with a ‘mask’ on.’
In a second video, the man added: ‘Just to be clear, that f***ing last video cannot go anywhere, seriously.’
The game the man alleged to be Coote is referring to in the video was Liverpool’s controversial 1-1 draw with Burnley back in 2020.
Things went from bad to worse for Coote earlier this month when an eight-second clip was released by The Sun which allegedly showed him using a rolled-up bank note to inhale a white powder in a hotel room at last summer’s European Championship.
That video is said to have been recorded on July 6, the day after the Euro 2024 quarter-final between Portugal and France, in which Coote was a support VAR official and Michael Oliver was the referee.
It is also reported to have been filmed in a UEFA-funded hotel room. He has been stood down from officiating European matches by UEFA.
Finally, The Sun released messages, supposedly from an acquaintance of Coote, which claimed the 42-year-old tried to set up a ‘drugs party’ in a Travelodge when he ‘he should have been concentrating’ on City’s match at Spurs on October 30.
Coote allegedly booked a hotel room at 7.38pm and sent a booking notification to somebody else at 8.04pm – just 11 minutes ahead of kick-off.
The latest damning allegations claim that Coote messaged a friend saying ‘hope you’re getting ready (to meet)’ – during the half-time break of City’s 2-1 loss to Spurs.
A source told The Sun: ‘On the day of the game he was messaging me repeatedly and wanting a drugs party after he’d finished at Spurs (where he was the fourth official).
‘He didn’t book the Travelodge until just before kick-off, then sent a notification 11 minutes from the game starting. It was crazy.
‘Moments before and afterwards he sent me messages. When he messaged me at half-time I thought it was so surreal.
Surely he should have been concentrating on the game, not arranging drugs parties.’
The source claims they eventually pulled out of the meet-up with Coote and that the official ‘went mad’ – even requesting £73.99 in compensation for the booking fee.
Another source told the outlet that Coote had called Liverpool left back Andy Robertson a ‘Scottish p****’.
‘He did say that the worst place to referee was Goodison Park due to the young Scousers screaming, shouting, swearing at him and calling every name under the sun before the games had even started,’ the source said.
